The Avery Review Essay Prize 2026 invites submissions for its ninth annual essay competition. The Avery Review is a journal of critical essays on architecture published by the Office of Publications at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. The journal aims to receive essays that use critical review and analytical writing to explore contemporary questions and debates shaping the field of architecture.
This international essay competition encourages authors to submit work that engages with existing texts, buildings, or architectural media in order to challenge and expand their own intellectual positions — whether theoretical, architectural, or political. Submissions should take the form of critical essays focusing on books, buildings, or other architectural subjects. Applicants are also encouraged to read winning essays from previous years to better understand the journal’s writing style and tone.
The Avery Review Essay Prize is open to undergraduate and master’s students as well as recent graduates, and there is no application or submission fee. Entries are selected through an editorial review process rather than paid publication. Selected participants can win prize money of up to USD 4,000, and winning essays will be published in The Avery Review’s June 2026 issue.
Avery Review Essay Prize 2026 | Cash Prizes Up to $4,000
Host Organization:
- Office of Publications at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Mode of Competition:
- Online
Benefits of the Avery Review Essay Prize 2026:
- One first-place winner will receive a cash prize of $4,000.
- Three second-place winners will receive $2,000 each.
- Winning essays will be published in the June 2026 issue of The Avery Review.
- The competition accepts online submissions, so no travel is required.
- A valuable opportunity to participate in an international essay competition.
Eligibility Criteria for the Avery Review Essay Prize 2026:
- Applicants can be current undergraduate or master’s students.
- Recent graduates are also eligible to apply.
- Applicants must mention their student status and graduation date in the submission email.
- Applicants may be enrolled in schools of architecture or in other academic disciplines.
- Students from any field of study that takes architecture as a subject are eligible for this contest.
How to apply for the Avery Review Essay Prize 2025:
- The essay should be 3,000–4,500 words and have some object of review as a base.
- Authors are encouraged to write comprehensive, modern and concise writing.
- Texts should be double-spaced in word file.
- Do not include images in the word file.
- Applicants can submit 6-8 images attached into a separate PDF file.
- Both the text file and the images PDF should be emailed to editors@averyreview.com
Submission Deadline:
- The last date to submit your entry is 31st January, 2026.
